Leonardo DiCaprio in serious talks to star in Django Unchained for Quentin Tarantino

Brad Sturdivant June 8th, 2011

It was revealed a few weeks ago that Will Smith was in the lead to star in Quentin Tarantino’s next film DJANGO UNCHAINED, but that deal now seems unlikely to get finalized, so Tarantino is moving onto another A-list actor he’s been wanting to work with; Leonardo DiCaprio. It has been confirmed that DiCaprio is in serious talks to play the lead villain in Unchained, meaning he’d be the second cast member to join, behind Christoph Waltz. The part Leo is up for is that of a typical Tarantino villain; the ruthless yet charming slave owner Calvin Candie. It’s also being reported that Jaimie Foxx and Chris Tucker are possibilities to star as Django. In the film, Django is out to rescue his slave wife and kid from the evil owner Candie.

This is Hollywood casting at it’s brilliant best because not many actors in history can rival DiCaprio’s talent. But I find it odd he’d be up for it since he’s been famously concerned with his image in movies since TITANIC. One of the reasons he turned away from AMERICAN PSYCHO is because he was concerned about how audiences would perceive him after watching him as a serial killer. I would think starring as a racist slave owner would be just as bad on the image. But hopefully DiCaprio is past that point in his career and now he’s ready to tackle a great character for a great director. Obviously, we’ll keep you posted as casting on DJANGO UNCHAINED progresses.

Leonardo DiCaprio